Conservative-Democrat

The recent events surrounding Nikki Haley is again leaving me with a serious quandary.  In politics I do not think you should “be nice to the girl.”  Female candidate know the risks and rewards as they choose to enter a race.  That being said I am very uncomfortable with the double standard concerning sexuality, appearance, and parenting.

For reasons that are far too apparent labeling a female candidate as a “whore” (pardon my frankness) gains far too much mileage for my tastes.  As Americans we are too easily distracted with these type of charges, even when they are unsubstantiated.  Some blogger makes a suggestion that a candidate “may” have had improper relations with him and produces no evidence other than some phone records and we jump on it hook, line, and sinker.  In my perfect world, this type of a story would go nowhere.  In my perfect world, accusers and reporters would have their credibility and facts openly scrutinized as much as the accusation.

Another label which frosts me is the idea that a mother cannot hold office and still be a good mother.  This seems extremely sexist in this day and age.  Yet, there is this underlying sentiment that prevails in political discourse.  I hear it expressed from right-wing and left-wing, political savvy women frequently.  Why is it that this is never a consideration applied to a male candidate.

And we cannot leave out the troubling criticism that if a women is good-looking (okay, okay – if she is Hot) that she is unfit for the office.  The more “Hot” she is the less qualified.  This is plain ridiculous and needs to be removed from serious political discussion and left to bad satire on SNL (which used to be very funny, but has lost its way).

Recently watching what Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and now Nikki Haley had to endure has definitely stirred up my internal moral thermometer and pissed me off.  And this is not the first time.  I remember similar feelings for Jane Byrne and Geraldine Ferraro when I was still a political pollywog.  I am particularly pissed off at the willingness of reports and editors to give this gossip column material legitimacy.  In a perfect world, editors would be the gatekeepers on this type of manipulation.

Alas, this is not a perfect world.  Reality says that winning is everything in politics.  Reality says that if you can’t win on the issues or your record that you need to discredit your opponent.  Reality says that female candidates are very vulnerable to the label of “bad mother”, “beauty queen”, and “whore.”  Reality says that these accusation rarely fail (even if untrue) and that they rarely come back against the accuser.  Reality says that perceptions are reality.

Reality is a bitch.  Wake up America.

- Michael

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